GB Athletics

[mpjmcevoy 362]

  On 6/3/2024 at 8:04 AM, Epic Failure said:

I mean, there's this page, which does imply that they plan to have some live coverage -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002050g/episodes/guide

 

Whether that is just a filler page and nothing will come of it later in the week remains to be seen obviously.

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I think they clearly intend, and intended all along, to broadcast this - not least as BBC membership of EBU/Eurovision Sport ought to make the process easier. Equally, it's obvious BBC's sports budget is on its knees in terms of negotiations. Hard to believe Ch4 would not step in and swipe these rights if BBC absolutely couldn't do it - for a smaller niche channel like Ch4, rather like some one off cricket matches it got, this would be on their terms a huge steal.

[Epic Failure 355]

It's really not helped in an Olympic year. It's a tough sell to the Beeb to fork out for it.

 

On a related, note, some changes to the GB & NI team announced this morning.

 

Out - Hughes, Hudson-Smith, Lansiquot, Mitchell-Blake

 

In - Sibbons (4x100m relay)

 

Hughes was not a shock after he pulled up in Jamaica. Hudson-Smith says he's just prioritising Paris, which is fair enough. No specifics about Imani or Nethaniel though.

 

In less dramatic news, Neita is focussing on the 200m rather than doing the double. And Amy Hunt is getting an individual run in the 100m, as well as her relay duties.

[Grassmarket 3,618]

Just to confirm that the BBC and EAA have reached a deal for the BBC to retransmit the streaming.

 

New deal agreed for the European Athletics Championships to be shown on the BBC

[Olympicsnell 300]

  On 6/1/2024 at 5:11 PM, Orangehair43 said:

Been told that athletes on the first days of the Europeans are not allowed to stay and watch the later days due to cost cutting. 

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Source: Trust me Bro

[Grassmarket 3,618]

BBC Coverage details

 

European Athletics Championships 2024: Who is competing, how to watch & key timings - BBC Sport

[RussB 189]

Well talk about a thoroughly miserable and downheartening day of athletics from GBR. It's clear KJT is not getting anywhere near Thiam this year, and the mixed relay was quite pathetic in all honesty. I know we don't have any of our actual big guns at this meet, but none of the 4 running tonight on this performance should be getting into any of the relay squads.

Sole bright spots go to the solid long jump qualification and Reekie in the 1500m, although not sure I really understand the game plan for Reekie running the 1500m here. Perhaps its some endurance work because I'd be staggered if she goes to trials over 15 over the 8.

 

[JamDH 44]

The 4x400's are starting to get on my nerves a bit. I know this and the world relays etc. haven't featured the strongest teams by any stretch of the imagination but still I'd like some indication that when the big one arrives we know who the strongest team possible is for all 3 races and that they'll commit to sending the best combinations out even if it means more races for certain individuals. Or if that's not possible, that they're prioritising either the mixed or a single gender relay to maximise medal chances in that one event because at the moment it feels like they're drawing our 400 runners out a hat to pick the teams. We're not the US who can send anyone out and still be in the mix. 

Edited June 7, 2024 by JamDH

[Epic Failure 355]

  On 6/7/2024 at 9:32 PM, RussB said:

Well talk about a thoroughly miserable and downheartening day of athletics from GBR. It's clear KJT is not getting anywhere near Thiam this year, and the mixed relay was quite pathetic in all honesty. I know we don't have any of our actual big guns at this meet, but none of the 4 running tonight on this performance should be getting into any of the relay squads.

Sole bright spots go to the solid long jump qualification and Reekie in the 1500m, although not sure I really understand the game plan for Reekie running the 1500m here. Perhaps its some endurance work because I'd be staggered if she goes to trials over 15 over the 8.

 

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Disagree with much of this. It's been a solid day. Nothing spectacular. But miserable and downheartening is going waaay too far for me.

 

All 4 of our relay runners are potentially in the Paris squads. They are all relatively young and, for the most part, improving athletes. Davey is a double medalist from the WC last summer. He's not going to get dropped. They performed perfectly creditably today. This week was always about development in the relays. Hence our not taking a women's team, or putting Dobson or MHS (before he pulled out) in the men's.

 

Reekie is here in the 1500 because, you would presume, she believes that she can win gold. She's the 3rd quickest in the field by PB and knows that if it comes down to a kick she's an overwhelming favourite. Consider that she would have to be fighting Keely in the 800 here, I can't blame her for looking for a different option!

 

Also, Okoye finished about where you would expect in a field like that. Jade O'Dowda is likewise in a perfectly respectable 9th after day 1 of the Hept.

 

All 3 women in the 1500m looked comfortable. Likewise Lincoln, Fincham-Dukes, Bird, Ujah and Lake in their Qs. 2 of our 3 800m men qualified, which is not bad considering that the men's 800m is absolute carnage at championships these days.

 

The *only* real disappointments for me are KJT (which is not that surprising, especially when she has nothing really to prove or fight for here) and the women's 5000m performances from Nuttall and Neale, which were below their best by quite a way. But even that 5000m had a PB from Izzy Fry in it.

 

[Epic Failure 355]

  On 6/7/2024 at 9:48 PM, JamDH said:

The 4x400's are starting to get on my nerves a bit. I know this and the world relays etc. haven't featured the strongest teams by any stretch of the imagination but still I'd like some indication that when the big one arrives we know who the strongest team possible is for all 3 races and that they'll commit to it. Or at least, that they're prioritising either the mixed or a single gender relay to maximise medal chances in that one event because at the moment it feels like they're drawing our 400 runners out a hat to pick the teams. We're not the US who can send anyone out and still be in the mix. 

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Just because we're not advertising our plans here doesn't mean that they don't know what the plans are. Considering that our 4x4 teams are the current WC silver medalists in the mixed and bronze in both individuals, I'd give them a bit of credit in the bank that they know what they are doing. Especially as they have Martyn Rooney guiding them.

 

With our trials only a couple of weeks away, the way the timetable is structured here and the NCAAs happening this week, this was always going to be something of a mixed bag. Nothing to panic about.

[RussB 189]

  On 6/7/2024 at 9:54 PM, Epic Failure said:

Disagree with much of this. It's been a solid day. Nothing spectacular. But miserable and downheartening is going waaay too far for me.

 

All 4 of our relay runners are potentially in the Paris squads. They are all relatively young and, for the most part, improving athletes. Davey is a double medalist from the WC last summer. He's not going to get dropped. They performed perfectly creditably today. This week was always about development in the relays. Hence our not taking a women's team, or putting Dobson or MHS (before he pulled out) in the men's.

 

Reekie is here in the 1500 because, you would presume, she believes that she can win gold. She's the 3rd quickest in the field by PB and knows that if it comes down to a kick she's an overwhelming favourite. Consider that she would have to be fighting Keely in the 800 here, I can't blame her for looking for a different option!

 

Also, Okoye finished about where you would expect in a field like that. Jade O'Dowda is likewise in a perfectly respectable 9th after day 1 of the Hept.

 

All 3 women in the 1500m looked comfortable. Likewise Lincoln, Fincham-Dukes, Bird, Ujah and Lake in their Qs. 2 of our 3 800m men qualified, which is not bad considering that the men's 800m is absolute carnage at championships these days.

 

The *only* real disappointments for me are KJT (which is not that surprising, especially when she has nothing really to prove or fight for here) and the women's 5000m performances from Nuttall and Neale, which were below their best by quite a way. But even that 5000m had a PB from Izzy Fry in it.

 

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KJT is one of the small number of nailed on medal chances for Paris, so her performances carry a significant weight in my mind when judging the performances. This goes for the 4x4 as well. The 4 who ran were very disappointing which is dampening what otherwise would be buoyant hopes in Paris with the performances of Amber, MHS and Charlie to name the obvious 3, with promising support from others (Nielsen La. & Nicole Yeargin in particular). It is these two performances that caused my view. I agree with the poster above about them getting on my nerves. You have a competitive women's, men's and mixed teams, but the approach (either from athletes or management or both) seems to be not to be doing everything we can to maximise the relays, with a focus on the individuals. Getting the team settled and practise racing in competition is vital. We saw today with the mess of the first leg changeover this is not something to just ignore. I understand you have NCAAs (meaning Amber was never going to race here) and MHS/Charlie focusing on their own individual chances but I look at Ireland and wish our team had the same approach. Get your fastest runners to competitions like the world relays / Europeans, know what you're doing and be ready for Paris. The second wave is simply not good enough at this moment in time. I genuinely think there is a slight but real gold medal chance (or a strong silver/bronze chance) if we prioritised the mixed relay and put out a team of MHS, Dobson, Anning and Nielsen. Maybe that still is "the plan" for Paris but the vibes would indicate otherwise.

 

The other performances were exactly as you said, very much what you'd expect, which in Olympic year is still disappointing. You're really hoping people can make a big step up on the European scene and become ones to watch later in the summer. That is a high bar admittedly but no one did this aside from to an extent Fincham Dukes in my mind. Morgan not jumping the auto qualifying height was disappointing, and I'm not sure we saw anything from the others that will translate into a medal threat. If Reekie wins the 1500m then that's a European title but I don't see how it will directly improve her chances in Paris...she still has a little way to go to get to the very top of the 800m global class (but is in the next group behind the big 3/possibly 4 depending on your viewpoint) & I don't see her trying to enter the 1500 in Paris. Maybe with rose-tinted glasses on you can argue the confidence of a title will propel her forward.

 

Hopefully day 2 will bring more positive results, some PBs and some momentum to the team for the rest of the meet.